Newsletter Thoughts April 19th, 2025

Dear Friends,

Throughout Lent we have been exploring the in-between spaces. Holy Saturday is the

true in-between place where we reside between death on Good Friday and New Life on

Easter. The words chosen for Easter are Grief and Hope. I love these words and yet I

confess that my brain wants to substitute the word Joy for Hope. I guess joy

encompasses the feeling of finding something precious and new… an experience that

life, in all its difficulties is not all there is.

But then I recognize that Hope is a wonderful companion word for Grief. Our series

explores these words as extremes, with life in the middle a simultaneous experience of

both. Last year I trained as a grief coach. Accompanying someone through grief is

sacred and hard work.

We are taught to ride the roller coaster. What does this mean? Grief exhibits itself in

many forms: sadness, emptiness, anger, relief, fear, even happiness that is quickly

followed by guilt. I continue to return to the roller coaster image because it encapsulates

how we can experience all these feelings at the same time. Grief can be exhausting.

There is no getting back to what was, only a journey through to what can be.

In the midst of these intense feelings our faith encourages us to hope. The resurrection

kindles a kind of hope that can empower us to do things we’ve never imagined. It is

hope that can help us to:

speak out for our neighbor

stand up to bullies

seek justice for the oppressed

love those we deem unlovable

get up each morning

plan for tomorrow

celebrate the lives of those who’ve gone ahead of us

It is hope that has changed the world. It is hope that continues to change it. This hope is

not a panacea but rather a sure and certain knowledge that what we see is not all there

is and that we are invited to live out hope today. Even if today it seems hard.

I look forward to celebrating Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday with you. See you soon.

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Nancy